In his commentary column in the Friday, May 20 edition of the News-Herald, Dick Morris points out a problem that the Democrats are facing with regard to the Hispanic vote.

It’s a problem that the Dems will surely have to handle, but it isn’t the first time that one set of interests has conflicted with another.

Morris’ column, however, has several thought provoking sentences:

&uot;Either you alleviate poverty in Central America and encourage would be immigrants to stay home and share in the increasing wealth or you keep them in poverty and watch as they flock over our borders&uot;.

First, we are not keeping them in poverty. That is caused by circumstances that they have created, in part,

themselves . It would be nice to provide them with jobs, but should we do it at the expense of American workers?

To prove how successful NAFTA (North American Free Tree Agreement) has been, Morris points to Mexico. Many of the jobs that he refers to in Mexico are not new ones that the Mexican government or Mexican enterprise has created as a result of NAFTA. Many are jobs that American businesses have created after they closed down factories in the United States and moved their production south of the border. Those businesses took advantage of lower wages, lax employee protection, weak environmental laws, and lower taxes.

As to the &uot;they flock over our borders&uot; statement, Morris accepts the fact that our borders have no protection. That is an outrageous shortcoming of the current administration. While both parties pander to the Hispanic vote, the one in power has the responsibility to protect the United States.

Not stopping the millions that merely walk across the border between Mexico and the U.S. shows a complete lack of responsibility by the administration.

Along with the ones who are seeking work, hundreds of terrorists could be slipping into the country and we’d never know it.

Morris asks what Sen. Hilary Rodham Clinton will do about catering to the Central Americans who live in New York. Why not ask about Republican Senators like Tom Delay? Just because they follow the party line and export jobs doesn’t mean that the GOP senators will be voting to help American workers.

He should ask which large corporations are looking for cheaper labor, and which lobbyists are supporting CAFTA, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and donating heavily to the cooperating GOP representatives.

Both parties want that Hispanic vote, but that vote shouldn’t be more important to our congressmen and senators than the long term good of the rest of the American citizens. Morris has taken a partisan view that frames an important decision in terms of seamy politics instead of statesmanship.

Eugene Denison is a classified advisor for the News-Herald and a correspondent.